Sociable Weaver

Weaver ( Philetairus socius ) in Okaukuejo, Namibia

• Philetairus socius socius Philetairus socius eremnus
• Philetairus socius lepidus

The weaver ( Philetairus socius ) is the only species in the genus Philetairus from the family of weaver birds ( Ploceidae ).

Appearance

Weaver are sparrow -like, up to 14 cm wide weaver birds. Your chest is light beige with black spots on the flanks, the beige - brown wings act by the bright Federsäume scaled. To the blue- gray beak they have a black spot; the upper head is dark brown.

Song of the Siedelwebers is a " Tschipp - tschipp " his alarm call is a hard " tip tip ".

Dissemination

The distribution of the Siedelwebers is limited to central Namibia and the Central Kalahari (Northern Cape Province and Südbotswana ).

Way of life

Weaver are lively and noisy colony breeders that build their communal nests of grass in trees and telephone poles. Telephone poles and the smooth bark of the quiver trees offer protection from snakes. The nest is started by some birds by the construction of the roof to a strong tree branch. Then the couples involved in the colony build their nests with single inputs down. The nests are used for years and with the time increasing. Often the branches break under the weight of the nest and the whole nest or portions thereof fall to the ground. The nests can reach 4 m in width, with more than 100 nests. Individual, uninhabited nests are also used by other weavers, finches, small parrots and pygmy falcon.

Other Names

The weaver is also called Siedelsperling. In South Africa, his name is " Familievoël ".